La musica della notte
by chromate
Summary: Falling in love never strikes her as a possibility. All that required is one stranger and one Stradivarius.
1. Chapter 1: Lento con gran expressione

Summary: Everything was just in the right place flawlessly. No redundant movements, no pretentious bowing.

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_Chapter 1: Lento con gran expressione_

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Letting out a deep sigh, Katsura Hinagiku carried her heavy footsteps to the Student Council Clocktower.

It wasn't like she didn't want to go there, but she hoped to avoid the heavy workload very much. Christmas was coming and the Student Council was instructed to organize a prom for the students. As the president of the Student Council of Hakuo Academy, eventually she was the person-in-charge of everything. And her playful committee members sometimes just weren't that much of a help. For the past week, she felt like yelling at them every time she saw them. Heck, she only had one month left and nothing had been accomplished so far, let along she still had a Final to prepare for a week from now.

Rather than yelling at her friends, it's more like raising her voice to let them know she's serious. She was on very friendly terms with all of them, so probably they knew her personality that every time they would smile apologetically, and she would find it hard to continue on lecturing them. She just couldn't get mad at them, her friends since they were young. The only problem was: if she couldn't order them around properly, how could all the work be done? She had other things to handle too.

That's also what she hated sometimes: people considered her being perfect. Everyone put their trust on her that she found it hard to turn or let them down. Teachers entrusted her by giving extra workload to her, such as handling tutorial classes. Her friends asked her for help and advice on things she did not even have any experience on. Her ambitions in pleasing everyone turned out to be her biggest weakness.

Sighing in defeat, she chose to retreat to the Student Council Clocktower, the tallest building around in the school campus, a symbol of status as Student Council members, and she was very proud of her position. The ancient-looking building had been established for years, and she spent most of her time in Hakou in the tower. Being the role model student in everyone's eyes and idol of all students was not an easy task for a fifteen-year-old. That kind of pressure thrilled her, but it made her wonder, occasionally, whether she's living a real teenager's life. It sounded like she was too occupied with school work that she had no time for leisure at all. Her overwhelming expectations on herself were also too easily notable for people around her. She wanted to keep her image, so as not to disgrace the name of the Student Council president of the most prestigious school around the region. Seeing her classmates going to karaoke together, hanging out in shopping malls without a care or even having had several boyfriends/girlfriends at her age...she couldn't help but envied them.

Leaving the elevator, she reached the top floor of the tower, the Student Council office. One could see the whole academy from the balcony in here. After all, Hakuo Academy was the largest school around the region. The view was always admirable, her colleagues constantly reminded her. The pink-haired was too proud to know that...wrong. Her acrophobia always triumphed no matter how other Student Council members tried to help her overcome this obvious flaw of hers.

Of course, the perfectionist tried to hide this fact from everyone she knew as much as possible. Apart from her close friends and some teachers, others probably knew not about this. Her pride was too high to accept her weakness to be exposed publicly.

Hoping to start her work as soon as possible, the sound of vibrating music notes knocked her senses away. She was startled: as far as she knew, her committee members never showed any interest (or progress) in learning musical instruments. Was it the Chairlady of the school again? That blonde liked to intrude into her favourite spot at times to pick on her, but she doubted if the Chairlady would come just to play the violin. Finding it suspicious, she tiptoed across the room to the source of the sound, the balcony. A lone figure was standing there, moving the bow freely and gently. Judging from the clothes, it seemed like a boy, she figured, but he had unusually girlish features. He was in a white shirt with black trousers, a hanging green tie with diagonal white lines that Hinagiku could instantly tell he was not Hakuo's student. His eyes were closed, oblivious to her intrusion to his performance. His light-blue hair being drifted by the gentle wind, his bang floating in mid-air. He looked certainly familiar, but she could not recall if they had met. Seemingly totally unaware of her presence, the anonymous continued to play his melody, a soft yet emotional tone that captivated her sensitive ears.

She should be enraged, she knew that. A boy appearing in the female-only Student Council room without permission was simply unforgivable, yet she felt no sense of anger from her mind. Rather, she felt attracted to this perfect scene in front of her. She had never seen something like this, with the yellowish-red sky portraying this unknown teenager's tender posture. She found herself mesmerized by each note he voiced with the perfect tuning. Everything was just in the right place flawlessly. No redundant movements, no pretentious bowing. The more she listened, the more she felt like she had listened to this style beforehand.

He waved the bow for the last time on a long fermata in soft vibrato, gradually reducing the intensity with a fluent diminuendo. To her, time just froze.

'Quite charming, don't you reckon?'

The teenage girl jumped in surprise. For a brief second she thought the boy just opened his mouth, but the voice belonged to a female. She turned around to see a blonde in black, as if gothic, dress with curly hair around her age, sitting comfortably on the sofa, sipping what she smelt as English tea. Somehow, she just froze. She was too immersed in the violinist's charm that she completely paid no notice to the sitting girl.

'My,my, even the almighty Student Council president cannot react under the influence of music.' The blonde spoke again, this time in a more teasing tone. Hinagiku blushed and turned her face away. 'I'm not embarrassed, I'm not.' 'I never said you were,' smiled the blonde, and the pink-haired fifteen-year-old found herself even more embarrassed. Whenever she was in such a situation, she would somehow speak her mind out bluntly, making her thinking process known to everyone around.

'And what business does the great Tennosu Athena have in the Student Council Clocktower?' She fought back, not willing to lose a battle in any way.

'What a hot-tempered girl as always, Hina,' the girl named Athena replied shortly, continuing on drinking her tea. 'I am merely showing my friend,' she glanced at the standing figure a few metres away from them from the corner of her eyes, 'around Hakuo Academy, and he said he wanted to see Hakuo from the Clocktower, so I took him up here.

'And then he decided to play a tune,' Athena's dark red orbs landed on the musician who confused over their conversation, but Hinagiku noticed her eyes softened upon looking at the boy, 'whenever he started playing, he deliberately pays no attention to his surroundings.

'Beautiful, isn't it?' Athena put her tea cup on the coffee table, 'Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor.' The blonde kept her eyes close, ignorant of Hinagiku's accusing glare. Frustrated, the president sighed in defeat.

'I apologize for my intrusion,' the violinist moved towards them and bowed, sounding his entry to their conversation, 'it's a bad habit of mine to play whenever I just feel like so.'

As their eyes met, Hinagiku got to observe his features more carefully. He did have a girlish face. His mid-length light-blue hair was just appropriate to give a clean appearance. His tall figure gave off a sense of charisma that any girl would easily fall for. And his eyes that shared the same colour as his hair, sparkled even without the portraying sunlight. Judging from his features, he should be around her age. However, his blue eyes looked abnormally sad, the pink-haired noted. She gave out a sigh.

'It's not like I can object to the Chairlady's decision anyway.' She put her bag on the coffee table. Athena looked amused. The usual Hinagiku would argue for a while before retreating to defeat. 'Are you a transfer student? I don't remember any teacher mentioning there will be one though.'

'No, actually,' he continued, 'I am a student in Shiomi High School, but I have been friends with A-tan for long.'

'A-tan?' she looked questionably at the only possible person in the room, and found Athena hitting the boy in the head. 'Don't call me that in front of other, Hayate!' She shouted, blushing embarrassingly. 'Didn't I tell you about this before?'

Shocked, Hinagiku could only blink as a teardrop almost fell from his eye. 'But A-tan, what's wrong with calling you that?'

The blonde simply hit him again, acknowledging the fact that this boy had no sense of others' feelings sometimes. 'Anyway,' her face was still red when she turned to Hinagiku. 'I forgot to introduce: I've known him for ten years, you can say we're childhood friends.' Somehow, Hinagiku's instinct told her it's more than that, but she dropped the thought.

The boy smiled apologetically to the pink-haired fifteen-year-old as Athena gave him a cold glare. He quickly shifted his bow to his left hand, which was also holding his violin, and stretched out his right hand towards her. 'Ayasaki Hayate,' he stated calmly with a smile, 'nice to meet you, Katsura Hinagiku-san.'


	2. Chapter 2: Tranquillo, e Allegro molto

First of all, sorry for the very very very late update of this fic, and I'll further apologize as I don't even know when I'll update this again, most probably in April or May when my semester ends. I know, I should never keep readers waiting, but please blame university for that and not me. I'm just an average student struggling through the system.

The first part of this chapter was written in October and the later part in a few days before you see this…so it may sound disconnected and personally I'm not too satisfied with how it (this chapter) ends but I can't think of a better one for now, and I know that if I don't update this it'll be dusted in my files again…so here you go. Hope you enjoy and leave a kind review to let me know how to improve this.

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Summary: The air was muted. The only thing in the air was the faint echoing of his music.

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_Chapter 2: Tranquill, e Allegro molto

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'Phew. The exams are over at last,' spoke a teenage girl with light blue hair. While attending Hakuo Academy meant everyone was very competitive academic-wise, she was one of the few who did not care much about it. To her, attending school was too much fun to spend time on studying. Hanging out with different people, especially her fellow Student Council committee members, were too enjoyable to pull her back to the real world.

'I didn't know how to do the last two questions,' said the grinning girl next to her. 'Hina-chan is going to yell at me for not obtaining a good grade again.' The blue-haired fifteen-year-old wondered for a moment when she had not seen her smile, then decided to drop the thought. 'I'm sure you'll do fine, Izumi,' she casually responded, 'besides, Hina will be too occupied in getting us to work for the prom to yell at our results.'

'But Miki-chan,' the girl named Izumi beamed, 'didn't you promise to help Hina-chan once the exam is over?'

Miki fixed her hair a bit and looked at her watch. It wasn't that late yet. She did remember her promise, and she wasn't one to take back her word that easily. Her childhood friend, the student council president, would not forgive her if she abandoned her duties. After all, the blue-haired promised to do her best to assist her when she got elected as president, and she could not really say that she had fulfilled her duties much. Instead, she, along with other committee members, always seemed to be causing her trouble. She should at least give her some support, as a friend and colleague. She made up her mind and turn to the purple-haired girl.

'Izumi, how about we go to karaoke now?' She whispered, 'before Hina finds out we're skipping duties.'

Izumi just sweat-dropped. This girl she'd known for years never changed much.

'Then what about our work, Miki?'

Without the need of turning their heads, Izumi and Miki could feel the sudden change in nearby atmosphere that made them shiver with cold sweats. A sense of death was slowly approaching them from behind, and it didn't take long for them to figure out the source.

'Ah Hina-chan, we're just talking about you,' Izumi timidly responded with her voice becoming inaudible, sluggishly turning to face the murderous president who glowered at them icily with the brightest calm smile they had ever seen. Miki and Izumi could feel their body shaking in utmost fear.

'We're only one week from the prom, and a lot of things need to be finalized,' stated Hinagiku, whose unusually calm tune frightened them even more. 'As student council committee members and class representatives, could you two do me a favour and go help other students who are now working around the school campus?'

When the pink-haired flashed them another dangerously warm smile, they ran for their lives to any place that required extra help.

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Hinagiku looked at her watch. Eight o'clock. 'This is enough for today,' she announced to everyone in the auditorium, 'thank you for your hard work and since tomorrow's Sunday, please come back at 2 o'clock in the afternoon on Monday to continue on the preparation work.' Receiving a few sighs of relief, cheers and applause, the almighty president stepped down from stage and observed around. The preparation process went a lot smoother than she expected, with each class representatives working hard on decoration and planning programmes for the night to come. So far there had been no fierce arguments, which she was grateful for. Even Miki and Izumi, the laziest people she knew, worked really hard decorating the auditorium. Aika, the vice-president, managed to handle some of her work and Chiharu, the secretary, was as serious as ever. In some way Hinagiku was glad that she had those two by her side, as they were very efficient in their work that let her have some time to relax a bit.

'Hina-chan, let's have dinner together!' As usual, the always-smiling Segawa Izumi waved frantically and urged her to come. The other members were waiting by the entrance. 'You all can go first,' said the president. 'I'll come after I take care of some paperwork.' Waving them farewell, she collected her documents and sighed. Now she had to face her work again. Grabbing a chair nearby, she sat down and scanned through the pile of documents to be handled.

It wasn't like she didn't want to, but the prom really put a lot of pressure on her. As a first-year, she had never attended any of Hakuo's previous proms and it was hard for her to come up with a grand one out of the blue. However, as the president she could not ignore her responsibility in providing a night to remember for all the students. From what she heard from her senpai-tachi, the prom was traditionally one of the biggest events in Hakuo Academy which celebrated Christmas in its own way. The fifteen-year-old had also heard from many that they were expectant of the event, which only worsened her fear of not staging a perfect show. She had, after all, no experience in this prom, let along any kind of ball. It was just her first year in this school and she got elected as president already, hence she actually required a lot of extra help from students-for-years who knew how a prom functioned. Not that she'd voice that out loud, however.

Flipping to another page, the sound of the paper echoed in the capacious environment. She only noticed, by then, that she was the only one left in the school after she dismissed others. The sense of solitariness gradually sank in, and she felt hollow in her heart. Yet, a small smile was put on her face. She felt blessed to have so many devoted students helping her in such a hard time, and disappointing them was definitely not something Katsura Hinagiku would do to repay their effort.

Suddenly, she heard sound of footsteps from outside the auditorium. Her female instinct rose and she looked suspiciously at the approaching sound from the door. No one should be around school campus by now, given it's the day of last exam and the janitors trusted her enough to give her the key to lock the front gate when she's finished her work. _You're alone now, Hina,_ she reminded herself_, but you're not weak. Whoever it is will regret for the rest of his life of thinking about laying a finger on you._ Rolling a pile of paper as her temporary weapon, she hid behind a table and peeked to see who the intruder would be. When the person entered the auditorium, she was surprised at who it was.

'Hayate-kun?' She was stunned to see him at this time at this place. The blue-haired boy jumped in surprise to her sharp voice.

'You scared me, Katsura-san,' he breathed out in relief. 'Why are you still here? It's nine in the evening already.'

'I am about to ask the same ques...wait, you said "nine"?' she quickly looked at her watch and was stunned to know she had already spent an hour going through documents to documents. Wasn't dismissing everyone else just something that happened a minute ago? She checked her phone and realized there were several missed calls from Izumi, and a text message complaining playfully that the same event (her forgetting about eating due to work) happened too often. The fifteen-year-old sighed.

'I was just passing by and saw that the front gate was still open and the light was still on, so I came by to see what's going on,' Hayate replied, observing the environment to find her to be the sole person around. He glanced at his silver watch. 'Katsura-san, could it be that you forget about dinner because of your work?'

Hinagiku blushed slightly, embarrassed that he found out one of her bad habits so soon. She was indeed a workaholic in many senses, for many reasons. Her hatred towards losing, yet, was the main one. 'I have to get them done quickly,' she defended with a not entirely wrong statement, 'to ensure every student who comes to the prom can have a good time.'

'But you should also know your health is important too, Katsura-san,' Hayate frowned at her stubbornness. From their conversation before and according to Athena, he knew very well that the pink-haired girl would not entertain the idea of losing a debate about not eating to him. An idea sparkled in his mind. 'How about you have dinner first and finish the documentation work after the meal?'

'But...' she wanted to find an excuse that could convince him, and herself, but the boy got her first.

'It'll be my treat,' he smiled genuinely, the smile that she grew fond of ever since their first meeting. This time it was her turn to sigh.

'Alright, but you better treat me something good.' Hayate beamed in response, guaranteeing her wish to be granted.

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Never getting particularly close to the opposite sex, she found it a bit amusing that she could relax so much walking with this boy that she first met three weeks ago. It's not that she hated males, but it could frustrate her at times when girls in her class complained about how perverted boys could be, especially their lustfully preying eyes during physical educations. Of course she knew it, being a victim sometimes, but males were generally fearful of approaching her. Her masculine character could attribute to that, not that she knew of. She did have received many confessions before, but she was interested in none of them. She did not oppose the idea of dating much; she just did not find any of them particularly interesting to be with.

'Speaking of which, where are you taking me to again?'

'Ah, that,' Hayate tidied his school uniform, 'it is a small café by the corner of the street. I work there so the boss knows me.' That reminded Hinagiku of something. In their encounters after that time in the Clocktower, they never really had much chance to talk that long. They had usually been small, polite greetings when they ran into each other on streets, or Athena decided to show him around Hakuo again.

'I didn't know you had a part-time job. ' Indeed she was quite amused. Being the childhood friend of the chairman of Hakuo Academy Hayate gave her the impression of being the heir of one's stereotypical prestigious family in the country. 'That's what people always say,' he replied shyly, scratching his cheek nervously, 'but my family is not really that rich.' For the next few minutes, he gave her a better picture of how he had multiple part-time jobs to maintain his living. 'What about your parents?' Before she could even regret saying it, she split her mind out. She could see Hayate frown for the most insignificant portion, but he did not stop his small smile from appearing.

'They died when I was really young. To be honest, I do not even have any bit of memories of living with them. My older brother has been taking care of me since then,' he went on to explain, 'he worked in the Tennousu family, and that's how A-tan and I met each other.' The curve of his lips told her that 'it's alright and it's okay to ask more'.

Hinagiku did not dare to.

'Ah, here we are.' They arrived in a small shop with an ordinary external setting. The fifteen-year-old seldom had the time to spend on afternoon snacks or coffee, so she never really realized the existence of this shop.

'Welcome to – ah, Hayate-kun!' a young cheerful voice greeted them as they entered the shop. Hinagiku raised her head to meet the eyes of a teenage girl, who wore a simple t-shirt and long black dress covered by an apron. Her twin-braided short purple hair along with her small smile made her a very cute girl, Hinagiku admitted, and not to mention she had a better figure that made her jealous. The girl eyed them suspiciously and asked, in a tone which Hinagiku frowned, 'Hayate-kun, is this your girlfriend?'

'N-n-no, Nishizawa-san, please don't make any judgement here,' Hayate waved his arms in mid-air to clarify himself. 'Katsura-san is just a friend. I invited her here since she has not had dinner yet.' The girl named Nishizawa wasn't convinced, as she observed carefully the half-confident girl next to the boy she knew. 'Well, anyway good that you're here. We have the usual request tonight,' she pointed at an old couple a few tables away, who smiled at him. Hayate nodded back at them, before turning back to his companions. 'Arigato Nishizawa-san, I'll be there in a minute. Could you show Katsura-san her table please?' Turning to a confused Hinagiku by then, 'I'm sorry Katsura-san, I'll accompany you in a minute.' Before she could even ask, he walked away into a room with a huge label 'WORKERS ONLY'.

'This way please, Katsura-san,' the purple-haired showed her to an empty table near the counter. Hinagiku positioned herself and observed around. It really wasn't a big place, but the atmosphere was very comfortable with soft classical music being played. Prices were reasonable and customers seemed to be enjoying their time here. The only workers were the girl named Nishizawa and a tall man making coffee, whom she assumed as the owner of this place. Ordering a cup of cappuccino, she waited patiently for her companion's return.

Not long afterwards came Hayate, who had changed into a pale blue shirt with a sky-blue tie. Hinagiku watched in awe as he walked slowly towards the piano standing next to the wall on the other side of the café. What surprised her was that everyone stopped their action or conversation and clapped to welcome her friend. He bowed shyly, and announced with slight confidence 'Andante Spianato et and Grande Polonaise brillante in E-flat major, Opus 22.' Placing himself comfortably on the chair, the teenager began to let his fingers emerge into the piano as one. Beginning gently, Hayate moved his body along with the rhythm played by his left hand only. By the time the other five fingers joined in the parade, the old couple that Hinagiku saw earlier nodded in satisfaction, muttering something along the line of 'not disappointing their expectation'. Remembering vividly how his violin skills earned her respect, she was even more charmed by the melodic performance he was displaying right now. It was as if she was listening to a maestro's live performance if she closed her eyes.

Hayate, on the other hand, began to close his eyes. This piece was something he had performed many times, hence playing without looking was not a big problem to him. He could tell his audience were following him closely without a blink, so he decided to raise the tempo. Ending the Andante Spianato digestively, he took a deep breath to continue on his Polonaise. Banging on the opening G notes with both hands, he led the people into a journey of fantasy with playfulness and slyness.

Hinagiku grew captivated by his notes. Her coffee suddenly lost its attractiveness while the beaming environment intensified with the lively performance and she had not enjoyed such moments of having a blank mind for long. For once she was not thinking about her duties, her fellow workers and deadlines of all kinds but just to listen to a harmony of peacefulness. She paid close attention to how his hands danced around the keys, declaring this as simple child's play.

Her cappuccino stood still for the remaining six minutes. She doubted if anyone even moved a single muscle before Hayate held his breath and fingers motionless in the air for an entire minute. The air was muted. The only thing in the air was the faint echoing of his music. The fifteen-year-old lost track of her sense of time before the small crowd gave a big round of applause to the young pianist.

Hayate gave out a sigh, in relief, and bowed to the few but warm cheers in the small room. He could see the old couple that requested his performance beaming, other customers cheering, and Nishizawa was also smiling and giving him a thumb-up. Hinagiku, his guest of the night, was just staring at him, dumbfounded. For a moment he grew concerned, for what she was expressing was neither appreciation nor apprehension. Their eyes met and Hayate's smile faltered slightly, pondering what his friend was seeing now.

Hinagiku also wondered what she truly was seeing, or feeling, or experiencing. At the very least, she was feeling a new sense of emotions glowing from her heart, something which she had been feeling for quite some time. It could explain everything she had been feeling till now, of how she had felt anxious and thoughtful. Yet it was terrifying to affirm that thought: she never believed whole-heartedly in such thing, with too many faulty examples around her life to back her up. However, regardless of how much she struggled against this, she felt powerless against this power. Being a logical person, she tried to find any reason possible to give an answer to her dilemma in this situation that she never expected to have happened, only to find none.

When their vision crossed, she confirmed her suspicion.

_End of Chapter 2_


	3. Chapter 3: Adagio con brio

Greetings, dear readers. Having written two one-shots (_Shaman King_ and _K-On!_), a four-chapter-story (_Infinite Stratos_), and the beginning of another fic (_Clannad_), I figure I don't really have a justifiable reason on why I have not updated this fic. Well…apart from the slow flow of the manga that kind of blows off the flame of passion for _Hayate no Gotoku_ in my heart, I guess I'm a very _human_ being – I turn to my new interest and forget about my old stuff very easily. That's a death penalty to a fanfiction writer, and I sincerely apologize.

Also, writer's block for this fic also troubles me. When I began to write this, I intend to use a serious tone and focus on description of surroundings, but then when it comes to the third chapter I realize I can't simply repeat what I have described in previous chapters, and jumping into a new scene will sound too rush. Hence, this chapter serves three purposes mainly. One, to tell my faithful readers that I have not abandoned this fic completely, and _I will continue writing this_, even if I've occupied myself with my _Clannad_ fic now. Two, to serve as the bridge to the next scene. This chapter will appear more or less like a filler chapter, hence personally it is not the best I've written so far, but an important connection nevertheless. Three, to reignite my passion in _Hayate no Gotoku_, despite the lack of events in terms of plot after the epic Athena arc.

Enjoy.

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Summar: It was one moment of life that she came to appreciate the most. Listening to the sound of hammered strings brought her tranquillity from her work.

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_Chapter 3: Adagio con brio _

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Two days left.

Hinagiku glared impatiently at her watch. Figuring that she could not fight against time, which had struck eight already, she let go of the document she was holding and decided to call it a night. Tidying up everything that was left on the floor, the fifteen-year-old looked around the auditorium for the last time before she retreated from the place.

It would be her big day in a few days, the annual prom that everyone had been looking forward to. The pink-haired teenager inspected the area with utmost precision, making sure that so far everything was in its right place. The decoration had been placed neatly, with all the green cloths and white fuzzy designs that instilled the suitable Christmas atmosphere in the hall. Smiling in satisfaction that it looked good enough, she turned off the light and prepared to leave. There were a lot more to do tomorrow.

It had become an unvoiced routine for her to stay behind to check everything before stepping away from the school area. Every night she just had to make sure it was perfect. Not a single flaw could escape from her sharp eyesight. After all, this was _her _big show. If all the auditorium's a stage then it would be hers to shine. She would not disappoint anyone who had such high expectation on her when she got elected as the student council president. Katsura Hinagiku would not allow her reputation to falter due to any imperfect incidents, however insignificant they could be.

That being said, it did not mean she had no time to relax. As she thanked the janitor for his hard work (in waiting for her to leave) her legs carried her routinely to the place that she grew fond of, the tiny café by the corner of the street. Along the way she started to think how things had changed for her recently. She used to be a very anxious person who cared too much about being the perfect girl for her parents and her friends. Now as she started to loosen up, she felt more…alive. She could picture her old self losing control of her body, after certain struggles, and she began to move in a new direction.

'Good evening and welcome, Hinagiku-san,' she received a polite greeting from the waiter she knew too well recently. 'Your friends have arrived already. This way, please,' he led her to a group of girls sitting on a table of six. She had introduced her fellow student council members to come after Hayate first invited her, five days ago, and it had become their usual relax-after-work place. Besides, the food served here was well-made that it satisfied her friends' desire for high-quality dishes.

'Hina-chan!' Izumi, the purple-haired friend of hers, waved as Hinagiku made her way to them. She thanked Hayate before sitting down. Miki raised an eyebrow at their interaction, but said nothing.

'I'll have fettucine carbonara and a glass of strawberry milkshake please,' the pink-haired ordered as Hayate took the menu from her. She relaxed her shoulders and joined in her friends' conversation. It wasn't about anything serious, as they did not particularly enjoy talking about work after yet another day of staying in school, busy preparing for the big event. And Hinagiku respected that, as much as she would like to talk more about it to see if she had accidentally missed any fatal blow that could ruin her life. Furthermore, it was also one reason that she chose this place to come to after work, as she could at least try to forget temporarily about her student council matters. The atmosphere calmed her nerves, and she was grateful she finally had found a place that she could just enjoy being herself for a moment.

'You all can eat first. There's no need to wait for me,' HInagiku motioned for her friends to touch their meals that had been there for quite a while. And she felt bad if others could not taste the food in their best condition.

'It's okay, Hina,' a girl stated while playing with her glasses a bit, 'it's rare for you to join us for dinner anyway. I assume we all can wait a little bit.' Harukaze Chiharu, the secretary who took care of her daily affairs, showed no affection as to whether Hinagiku joined their routine after-work meal, but Hinagiku knew that she just liked to be mean in such situation. Her ambiguously cold personality, Hinagiku reckoned, was one reason why she trusted her so much.

'Don't make it sound like I don't care, Chiharu,' she moaned, 'you know how much I value this –'

'How much you value the well-being of this year's prom? Trust us, Hina, we know very well,' Miki interjected, 'they are marked on your forehead already.'

'Well, if only someone thought more about helping me when exams ended…' the pink-haired teased as Miki and Izumi froze, shaking their bodies a bit as they sensed Hinagiku's dark aura emerging from her eyes and the angry sign shown on her head. Silenced, they changed the conversation quickly, earning a laugh from Risa, the head of the disciplinary committee, a raised glance from Chiharu and Aiko and a defeated sigh from the president. She just knew she could not possibly stay mad at them for that long.

Turning her head around, she reminisced the moments of the past few days, where she would come, in excitement, to taste the delicious food as Hayate made his way on the keyboard. Occasionally Nishizawa Ayumu, the waitress whom she befriended in here, would join in and play the guitar, making the sound more refreshing in this small café. In some sense, she really looked forward coming to this place, to hear his music and talk with both of them. In another, however, she couldn't help but feel a troubling emotion rising when she knew Nishizawa and Hayate were actually classmates in another school.

'Here's your pasta, Hinagiku-san,' the part-time waitress, put her food on the table in a swift motion. 'Thanks, Ayumu-san,' the standing girl nodded in response with a smile before adding, 'is there any song that you want to hear tonight?'

Other girls at the table were used to the performances every night that they did not pay much thought to the purpled-haired girl's question, although Chiharu did find it interesting how fast they had adapted to the pace of the small café.

'Anything will be fine, Ayumu-san,' Hinagiku acknowledged, 'you should ask the old couples there to see if they want anything special for the night.' Following her glance, Nishizawa knew that their frequent customers were probably awaiting the same question, so she excused herself and proceeded to them.

Hinagiku took another sip of her milkshake that refreshed her brain for another second. Halfway through her meal, Hayate and Nishizawa came out prepared and moved towards the piano. As the girl started to strum on her acoustic guitar with basic arpeggios, Hayate joined in with his fingers dancing around the small piano by the wall. Everyone in the café stopped their action and focused on the duo who captured their attention perfectly.

It was one moment of life that she came to appreciate the most. Listening to the sound of hammered strings brought her tranquillity from her work. She didn't recognize the song, as it seemed to be an acoustic version of some rock oldies, but she liked it nevertheless. It amazed her how a piano and a guitar could sound so refreshing at a time serenity was what she needed solely. Her friends were making soft chitchat but she couldn't hear them. She was absorbed in the world Hayate and Nishizawa had created for her, and her only. She didn't even notice when they had continued on the next song, and one after another, and they ended without her touching her food again since they had started. Her eyes, throughout the process, fixed on the pianist without moving, and her light-blue-haired friend gazed at her occasionally with a flat expression on her face.

* * *

'I'm sorry to have bothered you all tonight,' the pink-haired student spoke calmly as her feet guided her forward slowly, 'we should have left earlier instead of staying late. And now to have you walk me home makes me feel like I'm troubling you.'

'It's fine, Hinagiku-san,' Hayate reassured her with a smile, 'my house is on this way too, so it's fine with me.'

The group of girls stayed in the café for a long time talking over anything, and when they realized how much time had passed the café was closing already. Hayate and Nishizawa, after closing the shop, walked home with them together and gradually people started going in different directions, leaving the two of them as the remaining ones on street. Hinagiku did not mind a bit though; she was too thrilled by the fact of him calling her by her first name instead of her last name, the way he had done a few days ago.

'Hinagiku-san, is something the matter?' his words snapped her back to reality, as he looked at her with a worried countenance, 'you've been staring at the ground for quite some time already.'

'Ah, no–nothing's wrong,' she blushed, trying to find a justifiable excuse for her action. She mentally smacked herself for acting like a fool. Where was the fearless Katsura Hinagiku who stood unfazed in front of the toughest mountain? She swung her arms robotically, trying to convince her companion that she was alright.

Hayate looked amused, but decided not to press on the topic.

They kept walking in silence, which Hayate found quite appealing but Hinagiku considered troubling. She knew she had to say something, or do something, in such situation, but she knew not what should be said or done now, as the silence grew deeper and her discomfort tensed.

'Is everything prepared for the prom?' At that instant, she was glad and sad Hayate broke the silence in a casual manner. Talking about work was not on top of her list, but right now it seemed better than anything else. She let out a soft sigh.

'Well…mostly it's done by now. It's just that,' the student council president took another deep breath, 'we're short of musicians now. We thought of having a live band playing music that night, but then not many are willing to volunteer to perform that night as it will diminish their chances of dancing with other students.'

'Really?' He sounded amazed, and Hinagiku could not blame him. From their previous conversation, Hinagiku knew how tender-minded this teenage boy was, and it would be hard for him to accept such selfish ideals.

'Indeed, and now we are in a lack of pianist and guitarist.' Thinking for another moment, she snorted a smirk, 'it would be great actually if you and Ayumu-san could play for us that night, but I simply cannot ask another school's students to perform in a function organized by our school.'

'I don't think Nishizawa-san or myself will mind that, actually,' she found it amusing that he sounded interested, 'both of us enjoy playing music to other people. Won't it be nice if it can solve your problem too?'

'As much as I appreciate the help, I can't let you two do that.' She stated firmly. 'It's just improper.'

'You're being stubborn, Hinagiku-san,' he smiled, seeing the annoyed face she made, 'I don't think people will care too much about who the performers are, when they are having fun dancing.'

'I do. And my apology for being stubborn,' she sighed as he toyed with her weakness, 'it is just not right for you two to do so. I cannot treat guests improperly like that.'

'How is it improper when your guests volunteer?'

Sometimes, she would just like to smack that wily smirk off his face.

'But I guess I shouldn't press on it if you are against the idea that obstinately, _kaichou_,' he teased, 'but seriously, what are you going to do if you can't find your musicians?'

'Worst case will be playing songs from audio CD, which I hope not to happen,' she sighed, losing count of how many times she had repeated the same action throughout the night, 'I really hope for something fresh and not plain.'

Hayate seemed thoughtful for a while, but did not say a word until they reached her house.

'I'll be going now then. Goodnight.' He waved her farewell as he turned to leave.

'Wait!' She called without thinking, and a hint of regret filled her head as he stopped and looked back at her, startled. He slowly turned to face her fully as she struggled to find the appropriate word to say. She cursed her luck. She had been having a good night until the two of them started walking together, then everything seemed to fall apart in her case as indecisiveness took the lead. That said, she cursed herself.

'Will you…' she swallowed hard, 'you will come to the prom, right?'

If there was anything she hated, it would be the silence that followed her everywhere tonight. She didn't think she had asked a weird question out of the blue, but his slow response was making her nervous. Very nervous.

'Of course,' he stated calmly, showing a small smile, 'of course I'll be there.'

She did not fully comprehend what was the cause, but she did feel more relieved hearing that from his mouth, even though she had been quite sure that he would be there.

'Nishizawa-san and I look forward to your event.'

And somehow, that sank her heart.

Although she had been convinced of her own feelings, she started to challenge herself day by day on how she really felt. She was a perfectionist, and she did not want to make mistake on such matter. She took these things very seriously, and sensing the involuntary flatness in her mind was a good call to confirm her emotions.

'Just let me know if you need any help, Hinagiku-san.'

Or maybe she had just been imagining things. Overanalyzing, in a way. Yet she did not know the answer; she did not know how to find it. Her mind was filled with all sorts of possibilities, and she had no keen intention to pick one by now. More like, she had no idea which would be her best option.

'Don't push yourself too hard.'

Perhaps she should stop thinking about it. It wasn't a decision to be made immediately, anyway. She still had plenty of time to think over it carefully, after her event was done. Right now, she should focus on work instead, to make a perfect night for her guests to enjoy, especially the boy in front of her. Disappointment was what she would fight against dearly, without holding back any of her strength.

'Don't worry, Hayate-kun, I won't.'

She said that with a smile.

* * *

_End of Chapter 3_

* * *

It did not really turn out as bad as I expected it to be, and I feel terribly sorry for not having updated in about five months that I feel I should do something. And hence the birth of this chapter.

I hope you all like it. Next chapter will be about the prom night, which will be more exciting than this chapter. This I promise.

Meanwhile, before uploading the next chapter I'll also keep working on my _Clannad_ fic, _一番の宝物__/My Most Precious Treasure__. _As I've mentioned at the beginning, I've written Clannad, Infinite Stratos, Shaman King and K-On! during the period between uploading this chapter and the previous one, and please kindly check them out as my apology for not updating this fic.

Anyway, back to topic. Again thanks for the patient waiting and hope you like this. Please do review to let me know what you think or some of your expectation. Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4: Allegro ma non troppo

A month of writer's block finally subsides as I present the latest chapter of _La Musica Della Notte_. For months I had a blank mind on how to develop this for a long while, and while I had ideas of other stories I did not want to give up writing this fic. Finally I somehow force myself into completing this, and it turns out to be longer than I thought.

Anyway, enjoy. As always, I recommend to read in 1/2 page length to give off the feeling of reading a book.

* * *

_Chapter 4: Allegro ma non troppo_

* * *

Flashes of spotlights swaggered in slow motion as the steady pace of the soft music in background reached participants in the auditorium. In one glance, most participants were students of Hakuo Academy, the hosting venue, and all of them put on their best suits and dresses for this grand event of the year. What they intended to do was simply to impress or, to put it bluntly, to show off. After all, this was the one time of the year that they could put on their most expensive and glamorous outfit to show their taste and to impress people they intended to impress. Various colours of dresses danced as the ladies swung their voluptuous bodies amidst the music, while the males watched in awe and eyed them accordingly with their jaws dropped.

The lucky ones, namely couples or couples-to-be, made their way to the dance floor with their hands clasped tightly, gently, warmly. With determined orbs mixed with occasional shy glances, they were the centre of attention of everyone else, who was yet to find a partner to spend the night with. Their decent countenances and formal clothes could not hide the burning envy in their eyes as couples moved their limbs in the centre of the auditorium, looking into their partners' eyes deeply, lovingly. All these did not escape the eyesight of fellow students around who were eager to find someone to spend time with but were too timid to take the initiative.

Katsura Hinagiku watched the interactions between students with her sharp golden eyes, making sure that her 'perfect' show was intact in reputation, quality and expectation. Tonight was the night: the grand night of the prom, the show she had been working on thirty hours a day. She did not just strive for perfection for this show: she mastered it. Not to sound arrogant, but she did think that her obstinate quest for perfection had gotten to everyone, as all workers had contributed a lot of sweat to this night. Every single set of decoration was designed in pretty unison with one another that gave a livelier atmosphere in the large space that filled already about three hundred students from Hakuo or outsiders who were invited by Hakuo students to come. Yes, everything went well. All was well.

She watched amid amazement and calmness as she saw her friends, the troublesome trio that gave her nothing but headaches, seemed to be enjoying the night too. All of them wore beautiful, expensive long dresses that Hinagiku envied at some point, since they came from affluent families unlike her middle-class background, but she was glad that they were walking around and making conversations with those shy boys in the hall. It relaxed the boys and some were also stimulated to the point that they started inviting girls to dance, reducing the number of boys and girls standing alone or with their own group of friends. Hinagiku was pleased with their effort, as playing around seemed to be their expertise yet also what the environment needed right now.

Turning to her left, the pink-haired tightened her eyebrows as she saw who just appeared next to her. A girl around her age walked towards her direction and stopped right next to her, giving a small tug at her own gothic black dress that Hinagiku found some boys drooling over her direction. No wonder, as her dress clearly, or rather proudly, showed off her curve that the student council president could only stare with envy. Annoyed, HInagiku raised an eyebrow as she spoke, 'I thought you didn't enjoy standing within a crowd of people.'

The girl in black flipped her blonde hair backwards as her steady gaze pierced through another boy's drool. 'You're right, I've never felt comfortable being in a crowd of people, especially perverted bugs,' Athena looked around, 'but after all this is a function of the school and I have a duty to make sure everything is going fine here.'

'Are you saying you don't trust my ability in handling this prom?' With that, Athena gave a wily smirk at her companion.

'My, my, Hina. When will you ever learn your manner?'

Hinagiku gave up arguing with the Chairlady of the school, threw her arms in the air and decided to shift her attention back to her prom. At last she managed to find some students to act as musicians of the night to provide sufficient live, relaxing dance music to the students. The prom was unlike other schools' where they played pop music at the back and people danced like they're in disco. The prom at Hakuo aimed more for a romantic sense, which people danced to slower songs and moved in small, elegant steps. While some might find this kind of prom boring, it had been the tradition for Hakuo Academy to hold such a distinct event and Hinagiku was not keen on changing that.

'Speaking of which, why don't you dance, Hina?'

The pink-haired almost stumbled on her steps as she originally attempted to leave, earning a victorious smirk from her friend. She felt an awkward pause prevented words from coming out of her throat. She could easily make up a reason to answer that, however she did not have the strength to, somehow. An image of a blue-haired came to her mind and she struggled to remove that mental picture. 'I'm too busy with work and I have to make sure everything's running smoothly in the auditorium,' she raised her voice on the latter part of the phrase, hoping to echo it in the blonde's mind. Athena did not seem to have paid much attention though, as her vision moved around the hall as if looking for someone, before settling her glances on two approaching figures who had smiles on their faces.

'Good evening, Hinagiku-san and A-ta…I mean, Athena-san,' the male figure startled as his female companion looked at him curiously. Hinagiku moved her eyes around to take a good look at the two figures in front of her. The teenage boy had his pale blue shirt and black suit on, with a dark blue tie hanging from his collar. The colour he chose matched his hair perfectly and the pink-haired girl felt her face flushed just by staring. The girl he came with had also put on a decent purple dress that had white stripes by the end of the cuttings. She also had a gold necklace around her neck that the purple-haired seemed pretty fond of, unconsciously touching it from time to time.

'Good evening, Hayate-kun, Ayumu-san,' Hinagiku greeted as Athena only nodded her head indifferently, not showing much interest at the two appearing figures. 'You two look very great tonight,' she added politely while admiring half-heartedly how the two looked good together.

'Good evening and thank you, Hinagiku-san,' the pair replied as Hayate gave a curious glance at Athena. The blonde kept ignoring his presence and Nishizawa wasn't too sure how to act in front of her, as she was not too familiar with the Chairlady of Hakuo Academy.

'I hope you've been enjoying the night so far,' Hinagiku continued, already accustomed to Athena's mood swing, as she noticed it's been two hours since the beginning of the night and there would be about an hour left before her show came to an end, 'and it's really great seeing you two here.'

'Indeed we have. The decorations are great and we can feel that the students of Hakuo are really excited about tonight.' The pink-haired noticed the sly smile on Hayate's face, and Nishizawa went on, 'well, some girls have asked for Hayate to dance with them, seemingly under the pressure of their friends who would very much like to join in,' she smirked, hitting her companion in the elbow in a joking manner.

'You're the one to talk, Nishizawa-san. You're the one who got invited to dance several times in a row!' The blue-haired exclaimed, trying to hide his embarrassment as he seemed not to enjoy being the centre of attention in such way. His face turned slightly red as Nishizawa also took note of that, and she was enjoying his troubled state very much. 'I beg to differ. The girls took turn asking for your hand and look how disappointed that one girl was when you turned her down. Remember that shy blonde? She was such a cutie that she almost couldn't take the shame of getting turned down.'

'That was because I promised to dance with you for that song, remember?'

Hinagiku could swear she heard Athena giggle.

'You two…danced together?' Hinagiku asked carefully, timidly, in a great attempt not to show any special emotion in that query. She felt stupid at the instant the words came out of her mouth. They came together, and of course it logically followed that they would dance together. Their outfit might not fit each other, but Hinagiku could easily picture them clinging close to each other, with Hayate's arm on Nishizawa's waist as they circled around the hall, following the solid tempo of the live band performing on stage and winning the glances of all other people around. It wasn't like she had not seen this coming, though to be honest. Hayate had said two days ago that they would come together to attend her grand event, and that they were looking forward to coming. So what was this empty feeling that she had right now? Wasn't it just as scheduled? Wasn't she prepared to see them tonight anyway?

And she remembered that wily giggle of Athena. The typical kind of laugh that she gave towards people inferior to her kind. And that made her very uncomfortable as if she had been seen through easily. She didn't like that at all.

'Hinagiku-san? Are you alright?'

'Huh?' Hayate's words snapped her back to present as the pair looked doubtfully at her uneasy expression. That made her realize, or recall, that they had basically been nudging her for the past minute while she was indulging in her own world of struggles and doubts.

'Ah, gomen, I was just thinking about something else.' She casually made up a reason that they did not seem to believe in but let it go anyway. The air suddenly turned tense and she was eager to break away from it. 'I shall not disturb you two anymore, as I still have a duty to fulfil tonight.' Acknowledging them one last time with a nod, she quickly escaped and moved to the other side of the auditorium, hoping to avoid further awkwardness.

When she thought more about it, that probably wasn't the smartest way to have acted, but she was desperate to get herself some personal space that she did not even catch a glimpse of their faces as she left them.

After taking several deep breaths, she felt better and she walked around the hall aimlessly, trying to make sure everything's right but in fact she was hoping for something to happen so she could restore her serious 'work mode' and kept her mind busy for the time being. She needed distraction which was gravely lacking right now.

One easy way of distraction was to dance. In fact, she had been asked many times for her hand already, by boys or even girls that she was or wasn't familiar with, but apart from her dance with Miki, Izumi and Risa which were for entertainment purpose only (although Miki did look very happy, she mentally noted in a curious tone) she didn't spend quality time with anyone else. Workers came to her for advice from time to time but that's all, and she didn't mind it that much. She was the organizer, and she knew very well that as an organizer she should put aside her own self-interest and focus on her goal, that was to make it a night to remember for everyone.

She casually looked around and found that many had started to talk in pairs now, instead of staying within their own groups. She gave a small smile, and as the band took a short break from performing and people engaged in conversations instead of dances.

_It is okay like this_, she told herself. Her night was to bring other people happiness. Others' happiness was hers to share. It wasn't like she had not expected this when she took up the post as Hakuo Academy's student council president. She had foreseen this already long ago.

'Hingaiku-san.'

That voice sounded so familiar that she turned to the owner of the voice instinctively, without wondering why she did not pretend not to have heard that tone. Struggling against her might, she reluctantly greeted the said person.

'What's wrong, Hayate-kun?' She looked around him to find Nishizawa missing. 'Where's Ayumu-san? I thought you would be accompanying her tonight.'

The blue-haired wasn't stupid enough to miss the hint of rage and discomfort in her tone. 'We ran into Izumi-san and others, and the girls decided to go on an adventure themselves, or so they said it that way…' he trailed off, shrugging, while Hingaiku knew very well what her student council trio were capable of doing when they met someone new. 'Well…I should have assigned them more duties tonight so they would have less free time…' she scratched her head hard, recalling the cheerful faces she witnessed when the trio were assigned their duties.

'You should relax more, Hinagiku-san. Remember what I told you a couple of days ago?'

With a flick of her hair she decided not to hide anymore and face him directly. Of course she did recall his words as if they had echoed in her mind for long.

'Please, Hayate-kun, I know what I'm doing,' she added the last few words in a stronger tone, hoping the words would reach him finally. It wasn't like she was stressed or under pressure. Not led by the prom, at least. Her own emotional problem wasn't serious enough to depress or crush her. At least she thought that way.

Hayate was worried. He did not know her good enough to tell whether the pink-haired was lying or stating the truth, but he convinced himself that he should believe in her, as he couldn't really do much if she really was lying.

The sound of music once again filled the hall as both of them saw people around them getting ready for the next song. Some of the participants switched partners while some kept lingering on their date. Suddenly it seemed extremely awkward to stand still and do nothing in the middle of the crowd, with people of content faces and tiny, bashful smiles, who had their hands locked around each other.

Again, Hinagiku knew she could make up a hundred different reasons to run to somewhere else to avoid such embarrassing moment, but as she unconsciously took a step back Hayate reached for her hand in a split second.

_Softly…Gently…Moderately…_

It took her a full second to realize how warm his hand felt. She looked at their connected fingers in slow motion, not fully understanding how everyone took hours to complete movements that usually took minutes. Her golden orbs attended to his long, slim fingers that took good hold of her sweating small palms. At that moment she could think about nothing but how smooth his skins were.

He opened his mouth but his voice did not reach her. Her mind went blank as she noticed his face grew slightly reddish under the moving spotlight that flashed through each person in the auditorium. People were still dancing around them, letting the music take control of their footsteps. The pink-haired wasn't thinking clearly of her situation when she, without being consciously aware of, muttered a 'yes' to a question she didn't recall being asked, and then she felt Hayate's arm reached not only for her hand but for her waist also this time, timidly asking for permission to what she did not know. She only found out gradually that her legs were obeying the rhythm of the live music as they led her body to circle around the blue-haired teenager, like a planet moving accordingly to its orbit.

Then she woke up, finally understanding what situation she had put herself into. However, instead of feeling annoyed or embarrassed, she experienced a new kind of sensation and warmth in her heart. As Hayate led her, he also looked nervous and unsettling, as Hinagiku could note. This somewhat calmed her a little, as she eventually relaxed her full body and let him take the lead, dancing with him with all her might.

To be honest, she did not enjoy being the centre of attention, and so did Hayate. Yet as she stared into his charmingly blue eyes, everyone and everything else started to blur, not getting her focus. Right now, all she could see was his vivid eyes, his gentle face and his casual yet subtle movements that took her into the world of music and ecstasy. She could no longer see faces of other people around her, nor could she hear the murmurs and whispers hinted at their direction. It was weird, she could tell, that she was in a hall of hundreds of people yet she could still hear his steady breath guiding his hands to pull her closer to his slender figure. Now she could even sense the heat emitted from his skins, touching hers softly with his heartbeat echoing hers. She felt her face heated up also, but she was not mad. Instead, she had never felt any happier before their hands made contact.

They exchanged meaningful glances at each other before she realized that the music was over, but they did not move from their position. She saw in his eyes an eternity for her to explore, while he did not even blink once when trying to capture the glint of emotion in her eyes.

'Hinagiku-san…' he whispered into her ears, and Hinagiku just remained standing there, not noticing that he was now holding her hands with his.

It was as if in slow motion that everything after that happened, but Hinagiku saw it faster than others did. As Hayate turned and left, she timidly raised her hand to touch her left cheek where he just pressed his lips on, recalling the warmth of his breath and skin, the sensation that sent chills down her spine. It sent her a thousand different emotions that she was yet to decipher which to express, as things and people around her started to gain her attention again.

She raised her head in hopes of finding the blue-haired, but he was already gone. He was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

_End of Chapter 4_

* * *

So, hope you all enjoy Chapter 4 as well. I just realized I made a loud promise that this chapter would be much more exciting than the previous one. Well, given the nature of this fic I hope it really turns out as 'exciting' as you expect it to be. I did intend for this fic to be more 'serious', with more subtle building-up and less casual conversation in a way, hence you may notice the lack of verbal interactions between Hayate and Hinagiku during the dance scene. That was intentionally made to be different from other dance scenes that you may come across where the male and female characters keep muttering love words.

Now, for other news…

I've written a Clannad one-shot, _Before Dawn_, and another chapter of _一番の宝物__My Most Precious Treasure_after I've posted Chapter 3 of this story. Please check them out if you have time too. I'm also thinking about writing some one-shots for a few series that I came to like recently, such as _Angel Beats!_, _Hanasaku Iroha_, and the anime-of-the-year so far, _Puella Magi Madoka Magica_. I'm anxious in trying different style of writing that I think can be incorporated into fanfics of these series.

That said, I won't give up on this fic. Based on what I have in my notebook for now, I'm guessing this story still has about 2 to 3 chapters left. It's the suitable length for me as so far the first four chapters are going fine along my intended direction.

Again, reviews and criticisms are always welcome. Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5: Andante Expressivo

I figure I have probably apologised too many times for not updating this story.

Apart from my usual (yet true) excuse of having very busy semesters, I was working on my original story for a competition so I was devoting some time to the world of non-anime/manga. I originally have already written the ending for this story, until I notice not one, but a handful of fatal logical flaws in them. They weren't something that I could just erase and pretended they weren't there, for they affected the whole flow of the story. Due to my personal standard (especially I have a high one for this particular story), I deleted the files, and decided to start writing from the end of Chapter 4 again. Now I have to think of a new ending that logically follows without disturbing the flow of plot that I've been slowly (very slowly)building up over the past time.

This chapter is relatively short for that reason, as I'm still quite unsure of how things should turn out, but I figure updating it will give me a boast to _really_ keep writing this damn thing, and this will also act as a token of appreciation to all you dear readers out there, who have been reviewing this story and sending messages to me about how you want to read what happens afterwards.

As always, I recommend to read in 1/2 page length to give off the feeling of reading a book.

* * *

_Chapter 5: Andante expressivo_

* * *

If admiring the glamorous view of Hakuo Academy with a calm heart was what every student should have experienced at least once during their time in the campus, then Hinagiku was failing miserably in that aspect. It wasn't like, though, that she let her temper take control of her logical mind, but that she reckoned being too logical wasn't the healthiest thing for her current state to take. Besides, there were no possible ways she could have stood the bare sight of height.

Taking a step back and pacing slowly around her office in the student council tower, her vision lingered on the empty spot near the balcony. As a couple of birds sang happily at the far end of the fences, amid the chilling cold, the pink-haired girl just stood and watched. Letting out a sigh, she turned and positioned herself comfortably on the sofa, eyes still glued to the spot occupied by the stranger with a Stradivarius weeks ago.

As she recalled the circumstances they had shared afterwards, she couldn't help but felt her lips twist upwards while her eyebrows frown. She closed her eyes temporarily to reminiscence the moment when they first met, and how they encountered each other in later times. The auditorium, the tiny café, the night of the prom…as memories engulfed her mind her eyes burst open, her heart beating fast and her legs paled. In a swift motion she reached for her glass of warm tea on her desk and swallowed the liquid, not wasting a single drop of it. The fifteen-year-old stared at the empty glass curiously, studying her own reflection while eyeing for an explanation of her current state. Looking into her own eyes, she wanted to know what caused her to be like this. She had been acting like this for days, as if a panic attack of her consciousness was occurring.

Hayate had not been seen after prom night. And no one had any information as to where he was.

_Deep breath, Hina, deep breath_…she constantly reminded herself. Without another second of hesitation she shut her eyes, let the air took her breath and completely relaxed her muscles. The thousands of thoughts in her mind started to disappear one by one, with stillness occupying her heart, like a gentle force pushing away her troubles with the slightest touch of sensation. She could see blankness in front of her closed eyelids, and she was ever so close to reaching that state of complete mental stability, if not for her uncertainty over the whole matter. That very idea frightened her.

But well, for now she might just as well succumb to it, for she terribly needed some peace of mind that did not involve him.

* * *

And then, certainly she thought she could escape his image after successfully thinking about anything but him for the whole day. She was just so close to achieving that when she got a visitor whom she must meet under any circumstances.

'So what brings you here?' Hinagiku said, rather impatiently, as she sat on her chair in her office, eyeing her visitor suspiciously. Under normal condition she would be glad to entertain anyone stopping by, but now she just wanted to be alone.

Her visitor took time in picking up the antique teacup from the table, inspecting the content carefully, then slowly sipping the hot liquid as if Hinagiku was not even there at all. Hinagiku just kept staring at her visitor who still refused to acknowledge her presence until the teacup was once again placed on the table.

'My, my. Is visiting an old friend such a dishonourable deed,' Athena carefully opened her eyes to talk, 'that the student council president does not have the patience to wait for the moment to come?'

'My patience has its limit, and I don't recall having "waiting for the Chairlady of the School Committee Board to drink her tea" in my daily itinerary.' She rebuked while twisting her eyebrows as she grew more impatient with her prolonged stay without revealing anything useful to her.

'Let's be honest, Hina. We both know why I'm here.'

And with that she succeeded in getting her attention. The pink-haired girl stared at the blonde, who kept her poker face with no hints of empathy for the girl. Silence descended on the room again, as if a psychological warfare had just begun. Both sides were waiting for the other to take the first step. Uncrossing her legs, Hinagiku gave a hard stare at Athena without blinking her eyes. Her vision landed first on her golden eyes, then on her naturally-flushed cheeks, then on her tiny lips. _Open it,_ Hinagiku yelled mentally. _Open it. Say it. Say something._

But Athena did not back down. Seeing a distraught Hina was too amusing for her to remove that physical image from her eyesight. While she kept a stoic countenance, her mind was laughing hard. Laughing at the girl's stupid insistence for her to open her mouth. Laughing at herself for following the scenario being played. Laughing at herself for falling into this trap set by him. Finally, she gave in.

'Go to _Speranza_, Hina,' she said at last, breaking the eye contact with the tall girl. 'You'll find traces of him there.'

_Speranza._ She should have known.

Of all places, why couldn't she think of that place? It now seemed pretty obvious to her, for while she had stopped by there after prom night and looked for traces of Hayate, she had not spent a lot of time _investigating _that place. Without another word she rose, took her bag, and left the Chairlady sitting alone in the room. The sound of closing doors was the most pathetic sound Athena had ever heard in her life. What she couldn't decide was if she was the pathetic one instead, when she turned her glances towards the empty spot near the balcony.

* * *

Hinagiku forgot all about proper manners as she rushed out of the school building. Propelling herself forward, she arrived at her destination in less than five minutes, as she was too anxious to waste another second in her search. When she stopped moving she could finally sense how her muscles tensed and hurt. Yet they were of no concern or now, as she was determined to unveil the truth, once and for all.

The large words, _Café Speranza_, were hanging tightly on top of the place she set her eyes on.

With a deep breath and a determined look, she opened the door and stepped inside.

It wasn't surprising that there weren't many customers at this hour. This café's busiest hour was usually early evening, when students started to flood inside the shop and old visitors were off duty from work. Only a few would come when the sun was still at the crest of its track.

Hinagiku looked around to find no traces of familiar faces in the setting. There only a couple of customers enjoying their afternoon coffee while chatting freely with one another as the owner presented them their lunch. It took him a while, but when he noticed her presence he gave her a knowing look. Hinagiku waited until he was done with his customers, and saw him signalling her to go to the back of the shop.

The pink-haired girl found herself situating in a furnished room. If she remembered correctly, Hayate had once told her that this was where the workers took their rest when the shop was not that busy. There were a tiny bookshelf that contained several fictions and music scores. On top of it was a nicely decorated plant with bright yellow flowers. A number of portraits were hanging on the wall, and one of them caught Hinagiku's attention.

It resembled a couple, seemingly husband and wife. The man had short light blue hair and a mature countenance, while the woman displayed an air of elegance, even if Hinagiku knew very well it was just a portrait. The man held a dim violin on his hand, while the woman took care of the bow. They both flashed a smile all-too-familiar to the fifteen-year-old.

'Are they…' she asked the owner, but somehow couldn't find her voice.

_'They died when I was really young. To be honest, I do not even have any bit of memories of living with them.'_

'Hayate-kun's parents.' The tall man passed her a cup of tea as he studied the portrait carefully while answering her query. 'Ayasaki Shun and Nagase Shiori _(*see A.N. at bottom)_. They passed away when Hayate-kun was four.'

Hinagiku gulped.

'A talented violinist and a bright pianist, they had played with several renowned orchestras in the world until the birth of their two children.' He took a sip of his cappuccino before continuing. 'They set up a music school with an acquaintance of theirs, only to be killed in a traffic accident months afterwards.' Hinagiku felt her limbs trembling. 'The acquaintance took all the money and left, leaving behind two children who were now without parents and without care.'

'And then you took them in? Hayate-kun and his older brother?' Hinagiku interjected. It was a curious sight that the owner suddenly decided to tell her about these. When she came in here after prom night to look for Hayate, the owner always said he had no idea where he went to as well. Nishizawa attended the same school as he did, but neither did she have any useful information for her.

Of all the times she had been here, she associated herself with either Hayate or Nishizawa, and hardly did she converse with this tall man in his mid-fifties. His brightly black hair looked slightly unnatural given his age. While he dressed rather casually, with his white chef cloth smeared with dirt, his dark orbs reflected signs of graveness. Hayate had mentioned to her once that the owner was his father and mother's classmate, back in junior high, hence he volunteered to take care of them after his parents passed away.

'You are a smart girl,' the owner smirked amidst his sad tone. 'Ikusa-kun, the older of the two, was ten years older than Hayate-kun and worked in the Tennosou household as a butler. I trust that you've met Lady Athena already?' Receiving a nod in response, he went on. 'It was fortunate that the Tennosou family were long acquainted with the Ayasakis professionally. They offered much financial support for the two boys. It was only unfortunate that the Ayasakis were not well-known for having the goddess of luck on their side.

'Isuka-kun was mature as always, knowing from the start that he had the responsibility to raise his little brother. Hayate-kun, however, is not stupid, and he has always behaved well so as not to disappoint his parents' names. Like his father, he becomes fond of the violin, and, heck, he may be as talented as his father was. You don't come across a prodigy like that very often.'

'I don't mean to interrupt,' Hinagiku tried to sound as polite as possible, even if she was actually slightly annoyed, 'but what do these all have to do with the disappearance of Hayate-kun now?'

'Disappearance?' The owner laughed nervously. 'I wouldn't call it a "disappearance", dear.' He ignored Hinagiku's stern frown. 'I just mentioned that the Ayasakis were unfortunate people. In fact, it's almost like the whole family is cursed.'

That caught her utmost attention.

'What do you mean by that?'

The owner simply looked at his half-empty cup of coffee now, shaking it in circular motion. The air in the room suddenly turned tense as Hinagiku held her breath and watched him observantly. Thousands of possible scenarios were now showing up in her mind as she waited for him to answer her question. Right now she could only hear the sound of the clock ticking in the background.

'My coffee is cold now. It is time for you to leave.'

* * *

Of all the possible scenarios she could think of, one of her worst guesses turned out to be the correct one.

She had to mutter up all her courage to step inside the white building and locate her destination, as she passed by various people either looking at her curiously, or were too tired to pay attention to her existence. She walked some stairs, turned a few corners, and finally found where she ought to be. To be more precise, where he ought to be.

The large '507' imprinted on the door was not a sight she particularly enjoyed.

She took some time to first mentally prepare herself for what was coming. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and very slowly let it out bit by bit. When Hayate's guardian gave her the address to this place, her eyes dimmed and her mind sank. Now that she was finally here, and could finally meet him, a sudden sensation of fear just grew on her. Hearing or thinking about it was drastically different from witnessing it herself. She could only hope that she had the will to go on from now.

Reaching for the cold metal, she found that the door was actually left unclosed. Hearing no sound from inside, she decided to peek a little. It seemed like the room was in fact empty. Only then was she somewhat relieved to step inside the room.

The room consisted of a private bed, a tiny white shelf by its side, and some plants around the room. It looked just like any normal private hospital room save for the peculiar CD player and a pretty set of hi-fi perpendicular to the bed. The black amplifier stood proudly with a collection of discs next to it. Hinagiku couldn't resist her curiosity and flipped through the collection, only to find them all being classical music, ranging from violin solo to symphonies from all periods. She raised an eyebrow, but did not find their existence too surprising given his character. The room was otherwise rather clean. Unused clothes were folded neatly on an empty table. A half-empty glass of water was on the table as well, causing Hinagiku to think he should have only just left the room.

After walking around to explore the small room, she grew frustrated at the fact that he wasn't here. She would have stood by the window and let some fresh air cleanse her mind if not for her acrophobia. The room itself was nice, much nicer than any hospital room she had seen on television or in reality. _This must be Athena's work_, she thought. It was the only plausible conclusion she could draw.

'Are you here to visit Ayasaki-san?'

She turned to where the voice came from, the open door. A woman in her late-twenties was standing there, holding a clipboard in front of her chest. Her white uniform was as clean as everything in this room. Hinagiku gave her a small nod.

'He's down in the garden right now. He usually spends some time down there before his therapy begins.' Noticing the confused yet knowing look on the pink-haired girl's face, she formed a tiny small on her face. 'I can show you the way there if you want.'

Within seconds Hinagiku found herself surrounded by all sorts of colourful flowers and freshly green grasses. Tall trees stood humbly, providing the limited amount of shades for people to take their rest. Various kinds of flowers danced to the wind as the environment turned livelier. The sun was still hanging high in the sky as Hinagiku entered the garden, with anticipation. She saw the calm expressions of people in this place. Some were reading books while some engaged in conversations with their beloved. It was almost like any daily scenery in any normal park across the country.

And in the middle of all these stood the boy she had been looking for. She blinked twice to make sure her eyes did not deceive her. No, she was pretty certain now.

There was no way she could have mistaken that light blue hair for somebody else.

* * *

_End of Chapter Five_

* * *

_A.N._ I wasn't sure of the names of Hayate's parents, and Wikipedia only had the name of the father (Ayasaki Shun), so I just used the father's name and made up that of the mother's.

* * *

I hope this short update will ensure my dear readers that I haven't given up on this fic yet. My tentative goal is to finish this by the end of this year, if not this summer. That said, my previous record shows that I tend to procrastinate on my fanfic.

As always, I have a number of ideas circulating in my head while writing one story. Right now I'll try to spend time on finishing the remaining two (or three) chapters of this story, and may also spend some time writing some one-shots of other series. I recently finish catching up on _Kami Nomi Zo Shiru Sekai (The World God Only Knows)_ and am quite anxious in writing a one-shot for a female character that I adore. Also I have an incomplete _K-On_ short story in my file collection that I may work on as well. They're mentioned here just to name a few. I have a list of anime/manga that I want to write about.

But either way, I can promise that I won't give up on this fic. I have been putting extra efforts in choosing specific words for this fic as I want it to be different than my other work. The writing style for this chapter differs from those before, but I hope the atmosphere I've created is still here.

Reviews will be deeply appreciated. See you next time!


	6. Chapter 6: Adagio Sostenuto

Greetings. This is another rather short chapter, as I spend a lot of time figuring out a good ending to this series, after erasing my previous edition which contained some logical flaws. Completing this story is harder than I thought it would be, for I get stricter and stricter with the writing style to a point that I cannot feel enticed by any phrases I could think of.

As always, I recommend to read in 1/2 page length to give off the feeling of reading a book.

* * *

_Chapter 6: Adagio sostenuto_

* * *

The moment came when Hinagiku was aware that whatever followed might hurt her deeply, even if she had prepared herself for the worst case scenario before she stepped into this haunting building.

She sat calmly on a bench in the colourful garden, where she first spotted her target under the instruction of the nurse. The sun was covered by a thin slice of cloud that permitted only a portion of sunlight to reach the ground, so she raised her head to look at the sky. It looked a lot dimmer than it was a couple of hours ago.

Hayate rested next to her, as he closed his eyes to listen to the singing tune of the birds on the trees, his fingers twirling in circles along with the rhythm. One thing that Hinagiku knew about him was that he always had a preference of listening to the sound of nature. Anything that could produce a beautiful melody, be it a bird or a water droplet or a Stradivarius, would be able to capture his full attention. It was as if he breathed music.

She shifted her attention to the boy next to her. He did not look any different. In fact, he looked calmer than usual. She could not tell he was actually a patient in the hospital, under supervision of doctors and nurses who feared his condition could worsen at any moment.

So she just remained sitting there, watching him feeling the atmosphere, until the nurse came and urged for him to return to his room. Not a word was exchanged among them.

* * *

'Please, Hinagiku-san,' Hayate began after the nurse made sure he was positioned on the bed, 'I know you have many questions to ask. Feel free to ask any of them.'

The pink-haired girl raised her head to meet his gaze, thinking what she should say next. Right now she knew emotion could easily take over her: during the weeks of his 'disappearance', she experienced all kinds of emotions. She was sad, anxious, eager, confused, frustrated. Yet now that he was finally here, sitting in front of her, she found her throat turn dry and words failed to leave her larynx. She wanted to recollect her thoughts properly and ask him logical questions that would have a logical outcome, but she could not even think clearly without being overwhelmed by her uprising emotion.

'How long?' She finally murmured. Hayate seemed to have seen this question coming.

'Doctor says it could be weeks, or it could be years. My condition is a rare one, so they can't say for sure.' He raised his hand and put it on his chest, feeling the heartbeat that controlled his mortality. 'According to them, my lungs could collapse anytime, but based on the current condition they probably still have months to go.'

Hayate went on to explain his disease thoroughly for the teenage girl. Hinagiku just gulped. She had come across rare diseases only in books or in TV shows. She had never personally known someone with one. Her limbs weakened slightly, but she maintained a strong posture.

'Is that why you went to Athena, when I first met you in the student council tower? To ask for her help?' Knowing the reputation of the Tennosu family, Hinagiku knew that anything would be possible given the fortune they had and the power they held.

'Partly, but not truly,' he sighed as he leaned back on the pillow. 'I went to A-tan to see if she could find better medical treatment for me, but doctors after doctors failed to give me a plausible solution, so I'm prepared for the worst already.'

Hinagiku wondered how he could say such things with a monotone.

'Ikusa-nii did some research and confronted the doctors, and finally realized that the disease I have is actually hereditary.'

_'I just mentioned that the Ayasakis were unfortunate people. In fact, it's almost like the whole family is cursed.'_

'It was in the recessive side of the gene, so Ikusa-nii did not have it. My father showed symptoms of it after I was born, and that was why he quitted his job in the orchestra in Europe and hoped to set up a music school to educate the youth instead. He simply could not perform consistently for months again.

'No known cure has been found for my condition. A-tan has sent requests to doctors around the globe already, but all the feedback she got remains the same.' Hayate gave out a short sigh, as his face began to lose its colour as he spoke.

Hinagiku looked at him with mixed emotions. She wanted to feel sympathetic for him. She really did. But then, she was mad: why did he move into her life when he knew he could be gone anytime? Did he not know that this would hurt people around him? Did he want to cause pain for them? What about herself, who was helplessly falling for him? She cursed herself for being a heartless monster to think like that, but still, she could not understand.

She wanted to yell at him for being selfish.

She wanted to yell at him for being ignorant.

She wanted to yell at him for being inconsiderate.

But most of all, she just wanted to hug him. She wanted him to know how she felt. She wanted him to be there for her. She wanted him to know her feelings. She wanted him to look at her and tell her 'it's alright'.

So she just dashed forward and threw her arms around his pale shoulders.

'Hinagiku-san?' Hayate, obviously startled, was taken aback, his arms in mid-air, not knowing how to respond.

'Shhh…' Hinagiku silenced him. Right now she just needed reassurance.

For hours later on they shared themselves. They talked about their childhood and how they grew up in abnormal circumstances, he losing his parents by accidents and she losing hers by debt. They talked about music and how different melodies saved their lives. They talked about people they met and how they dealt with the irregularities in life. Hinagiku felt like she could finally say she knew Ayasaki Hayate, a complete stranger to her a while ago.

* * *

It almost became a daily cycle afterwards. Every day she would finish her student council duty at school as fast as she could, then she would promptly exit in haste, leaving her committee members in awe. She would then walk towards the hospital and go straight to room 507. He would always lie in the same position on bed, the loudspeakers playing loud, astounding melodies from his collection of symphonies in the room. Sometimes it was Gustav Mahler's romantic poem for his wife. At times it was Chopin's feminine nocturnes that fascinated both of them. Apart from visiting him, she also learned to explore the inner mind of each composer through their work. She gradually understood why this certain note was placed at that specific bar. A real journey had just begun.

At times she also frequented Café Speranza, and Nishizawa would be there to serve her. The two girls would talk about Hayate's condition and affairs in their respective schools. They gradually got to know each other better as well, and Hinagiku could tell from the girl's tone that the light-blue-haired boy in the hospital held a special place in her heart, just like herself. She shouldn't be too surprised though, for she had already felt something different about the way she addressed Hayate on her first few visits to this place.

Or was it the way the blue-haired girl looked at Hayate when they played their little duet? Hinagiku could recall clearly how Nishizawa's pale green eyes looked into Hayate's blue orbs as she strummed her acoustic guitar, while Hayate provided the piano arpeggios as background accompaniment. She never quite dared to confront her about it, though. She never knew why.

Now she was sitting in Café Speranza again, on a lovely Friday evening after a visit to the hospital. She was sitting alone. Nishizawa was busy serving other customers that she could not engage in a lengthy conversation with Hinagiku as she often did when there were not many people in the small café. The fifteen-year-old sipped her cappuccino, feeling the warmth moisturizing her lips. Her plate of lasagne bolognaise lay untouched as she observed the environment. It was tranquil as always, even when it was fully packed with customers. Everyone seemed to respect the unwritten rule here: you talk, but you do not annoy. Anyone who spoke loudly would receive a death glare from everyone else in return. How she loved this customary practice.

As she listened to the disc of jazz music being played in the background, she found two familiar figures on the table next to her. They were the old couple who always listened attentively to Hayate's performance. They dined in here so often that the owner usually served them himself and chatted with them about anything related to music. Judging by the slightly troubled look on their faces, the fifteen-year-old could only sign in sympathy. They must be disappointed that Hayate was not here again to play a tune.

Not many cafes nowadays offer live music that was so tranquil and relaxing, for many just played loud, pop music in the background through cheap, nearly-broken loudspeakers, causing the sound to be more distorted than ever. The old man acted unenergetic while the old lady sipped her tea carefully, looking perplexed over the disruption of their normal routine. It was their favourite moment of the day to see a fresh, well-mannered teenager producing such delightful sound for their ears. Now they could only sigh in defeat, as they already heard about Hayate's condition from the owner. Nishizawa also refused to play when Hayate was not here, claiming that she would not bring out her instrument if her partner was absent, so the owner opted to just play music from discs he used to collect.

Hinagiku thought about going over and talked to them for a bit, maybe just to make them feel better by any means, but then decided against this option, and began to consume her pasta.

* * *

How terribly strange to be sixteen.

Maybe it was because she thought about the old couple so much that as she gradually grasped how they felt about a broken routine, she stepped into room 507 on the third of March, only to be greeted by a strange stance of silence.

Piles of CDs lay on the floor next to the loudspeakers in chaotic fashion, as she vividly recalled how organized they were when she first stepped into this room two months ago. She knew very well that Hayate was an organized person. The amplifiers remained by the wall, standing proudly amidst the furniture in the room. All she needed to do was to look calmly around the room, then at the bed with a clean white sheet on it. Realization hit her slowly, yet not unexpectedly.

Slowly, she walked forward and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hand started to move around, as if searching for the heat that miraculously remained. Yet she could only feel how smooth the white blanket was, as she playfully drew patterns on it with her fingers. It was one of his habits when he was in a light mood.

She then let her body relax and allowed her upper body to fall on the bed.

Hinagiku wondered if she looked pathetic right now. Normally one would not react like this in such situations, yet she just could not help it. What was she to expect, anyway? She had seen this day coming. Everyone knew it. She merely accepted the fact strongly, and that probably startled people around her. But they did not know her. They did not know her like he did.

A rapid succession of footsteps woke her, and she rose to see a nurse standing by the door, looking shocked then nervous. Before the nurse started speaking, Hinagiku raised her hand to signal her that she was alright, and giving her a small nod. The nurse, knowing what she meant, looked at her for a second before bowing respectfully, and then retreated quickly, leaving the girl behind in her own world.

Yes, everyone would act in the same way right now. But she could not blame them. It wasn't their fault that she lost her emotions. It wasn't their fault either that Hayate had left. The doctor had said it could be anytime, ranging from weeks to years. Just that she felt a couple of months sounded too short, yet it might also be the perfect timing, before her feelings for him turned into something graver than she could ever grasp.

A bright, white envelope lying by the pillow caught her attention, as she reached out her arm to get it. The square-shaped envelope was addressed to her, she just knew it, with the words 'Happy Birthday' printed neatly on the cover. She carefully opened it, and found a CD inside. Staring curiously at the round object, she was sure this was not from one of his collections. There was nothing on the top of the disc.

So in hopes of investigating the content of it, she inserted the CD into the player in the room, and after a few seconds of delay, the sound of Stradivarius began to fill the whole room.

She immediately recognized the melody, and could picture the skilled violinist moving his bow swiftly to adjust to the change of dynamics and the jump to the C-sharp an octave higher. She just stood in front of the amplifier, mouth agape, as the trills sent shivers down her spine.

Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor. The first tune that she ever heard him play.

The disc took Hinagiku to a journey of violin and piano music. She walked through Chopin's nocturnes and waltzes, then climbed through Shostakovich's powerful fugue and danced to Mahler's lovely Adagietto. She had heard all of these before; Hayate had played them in the café across different nights. They were all pieces that she liked and enjoyed, especially when he rearranged some songs into piano or violin solo. It gave off a different feeling towards the masterpieces composed hundreds of years ago.

She wasn't sure how Hayate managed to record them, though, but she did not really care. He probably received help from Athena, and she hoped not to think of anyone else but him for now.

Hinagiku knelt on the bed as the music kept on playing, filling the whole room with joy, anger, hope, frustration. She could almost feel Hayate sitting next to her, arm reaching over to her shoulder and holding her tightly, as her mind absorbed the rich tone of Beethoven's _Les Adieux_. Her lips curved upwards, albeit crying silent tears.

The envelope rested by her side, listening carefully to its master's grand finale.

* * *

_End of Chapter 6_

* * *

_Les Adieux_ refers to Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.26, opus 81. It is divided into three parts: _Les Adieux, L'Absence, Le Retour (the Farewell, the Absence, the Return)_. Although beginning in a grave, gloomy tone, it ends in a delightful manner, echoing the theme of departing then reuniting. It is also the theme of the Japanese light novel series, _Sayonara Piano Sonata_, written by Sugii Hikaru. I recently completed the whole series, so I took some inspiration from the series as well, although I don't think the light novel has been translated into English yet. I've seen the manga version (English) though, and you should be able to find it with ease.

I've already started working on the next chapter, which is also the final one of this story. I want to thank everyone again for your kind patience. I'm aware that I started writing this story 2 years ago, and with my record of not updating on time I fully understand if anyone is mad at me for that. I can only hope you'll be happy with the flow of the story now, and be ready for the last chapter, which will be out soon, I do hope.

I also recently uploaded a _The World God Only Knows_ fanfic, titled _A Day in the Life of Shiomiya Shiori_. If anyone is interested in that fandom, please check it out. I had a lot of fun writing that story.

As usual, reviews are always welcome. See you all next time.


	7. Chapter 7: Vivacissimamante

After much procrastination and writing stories on other fandoms, I finally got to pen down the final chapter of this story. My sincere apology to those who have waited for months for the finale. I have an author's note by the end of the chapter that explains more about the story. You can take a look at that for an overview of my journey on writing this story.

As always, I recommend to read in 1/2 page length to give off the feeling of reading a book.

* * *

_Chapter 7 – Vivacissimamante_

* * *

Hinagiku had a dream.

In the fantasy world, she was in a field of crops as the summer breeze reached out for her, taking her into its arms. She let out a carefree sigh and started to sprint without a care. Her shoulders felt so light that she thought she was flying. To where, she had no idea, but she knew what awaited her would not disappoint her.

So she kept running forward while admiring the view in front of her eyelids. The trees were standing proudly by her side, and she could hear the soft whispers of the wind caressing the green, tipsy leaves. She could not spot a single cloud in the sky, only the shining sun that never seemed to rest. Not a single human being was in sight as she made her way through the large field, but she knew someone was there. Someone _had_ to be there. That was the whole purpose of her sprint.

But who would be there? Who was she looking for?

Suddenly the sun was gone. Hinagiku now found herself in an empty street with no signs of lives nearby. The sky was pouring rain which drenched her favourite pink dress, but she was too stunned by the sudden change of venue to have noticed that. She ignored the water droplets dipping from her hair as she turned frantically, in hopes of finding anyone who could tell her what was going on. Yet it felt like she was situated in an abandoned city, as broken lamps and houses greeted her senses. Garbage was scattered everywhere in the streets, and she felt shivers running through her spines. She began to cry when she felt the helplessness attacking her body. She wanted to get out of here, to climb into her bed and covered her head with her warm blanket. To hell with all the troubles, she wanted to escape.

But where could she run to? She had spent a lot of time running and she was panting hard now. The wet liquid on her dress made her shiver as the coldness got to her skin. She wiped away her tears and kept searching for any sign of life. There was none.

The ground suddenly began to shake, and Hinagiku, surprised, fell to the ground. The buildings around her started to demolish and everything was falling onto the hard surface. She blinked hopelessly as she saw the bricks of the houses dismantled and falling towards her. She could only see the solid bricks getting bigger and bigger as each split of second passed by.

And then she woke up.

* * *

It was the last day of school before a new academic year began, and also her last day to serve as the president of the Student Council. Hinagiku dutifully prepared the necessary documents for the future president and informed her on what her responsibility would be, and after sending her off, she retreated to the neat sofa and sighed.

What a day.

It didn't occur to her that her last day as the most powerful student in school would come to an end just like that. After today, she would no longer have privilege to walk into this tall building and glimpse at the school campus under her eyelids (not that she always did so anyway, given her acrophobia). She had a mischievous grin on her face, as she would definitely miss bossing her committee members around and organizing them until her perfectionist spirit was satisfied with the outcome. When she departed from that grand entrance door in a few minutes, she would become an ordinary student again, free from all responsibility and duty one would have expected from the almighty Katsuragi Hinagiku. There would be no documents to sign, no functions to organize, and no teachers to be bothered by her again.

She felt free yet empty.

Trying to think more positively of her experience of the past year, she poured herself some tea and sipped the hot liquid carefully. _Too bitter_, she thought, and she had to resist the urge to dump the whole cup and make another one. She didn't bother, in fact. Accepting things as they were was something Hinagiku had mastered over the past few weeks.

Was she losing sight of her perfectionism? Well, not exactly. The pink-haired teenager simply grew tired of having everything in order, and the need of finding a logical explanation for everything no longer appealed to her. She would now just sit back and enjoyed the scene with an auspicious and a dropping eye, her finger playing with her teacup as her mind drifted elsewhere.

She quietly poured an extra cup of tea and placed it in front of an empty chair. Staring at the cup for a moment, she turned her attention to the balcony. The sixteen-year-old raised her teacup and nodded in that direction, as if addressing someone who was standing there, and she could almost see a trace of light-blue hair floating in the air there for a moment.

_He waved the bow for the last time on a long fermata in soft vibrato, gradually reducing the intensity with a fluent diminuendo. To her, time just froze._

Then she lay back on the sofa and let music filled her ears. The melody was quick to register in her brain. Her mind got drifted away as she followed the sound of the Stradivarius closely. Here was a trill. There, a crescendo took place. A heavy bowing here, preceded by a soft, gentle vibrato. Hinagiku could not tear away from the scene as the sweet sound filled the room, while her eyes remained on the same spot.

_'I apologize for my intrusion,' the violinist moved towards them and bowed, sounding his entry to their conversation, 'it's a bad habit of mine to play whenever I just feel like so.'_

The sound stopped, and the last note lingered melodically in the air, the flowers in the room that Hinagiku had kept with good care trembled slightly. She didn't notice anything else when she rested on the sofa comfortably, despite knowing that she would never get to enjoy the finale again. Finally, the anticipated silence came, and that was the sweetest sound Hinagiku had heard for the whole day.

_'Ayasaki Hayate,' he stated calmly with a smile, 'nice to meet you, Katsura Hinagiku-san.'_

Just thinking about that name made her heart ache, but she knew she was just fooling herself with that feeling, when she had just imagined listening to his performance once again. She knew that she sounded like a lovesick teenage girl now, the kind that she used to despise before, for she never entertained the idea of having someone occupying her thoughts to the extent of disturbing her daily functioning.

Yet she couldn't help it. While she could occupy herself with student council work to keep him out of her mind, the deadline was approaching, and there was nothing much she could do anymore. The clock was striking, and time was running out. In less than an hour, she no longer needed to wonder about the smallest issue in the campus, or the strained relationships between teachers that she had to be wary about. She would just return to being a normal student, sitting in classrooms listening to the teachers' endless drabbles and engaging in conversation about the latest fashion trend with her fellow students. Things that she didn't really get a chance to be involved in fully over the last year.

So free, yet so empty.

* * *

_'Hayate-kun?' She was stunned to see him at this time at this place. The blue-haired boy jumped in surprise to her sharp voice._

_'You scared me, Katsura-san,' he breathed out in relief. 'Why are you still here? It's nine in the evening already.'_

_'I am about to ask the same ques...wait, you said "nine"?'_

How silly she was, back then, when he showed up unexpectedly to find her in a frustrated stance of trying to satisfy her perfectionist ego. When she thought back to the time she first visited _Speranza_, Hinagiku recalled how Hayate had talked about his past with a carefree tone. Of course, he must have known about his condition already at that time. Yet then why did he have to intrude into her peaceful life?

Walking steadily, Hinagiku finally reached her destination, and found herself facing the picture of her beloved, dressed in a smart manner with a tiny, gentle smile on his face. It was a picture chosen by Isuka, Hayate's older brother.

_(Flashback)_

_Hinagiku met him on the day of the funeral, organized by the Tennosou family. Only a handful of people were invited as Athena insisted that Hayate would not enjoy seeing that many sad faces. Hinagiku only encounter a handful of people she knew: Nishizawa was there, sobbing silent tears; the owner of Café Speranza was trying to comfort his young employee by patting her gently on the shoulders; Athena stood there, looking stoic, but her eyes told everyone else how much she hated to be there, seeing her friend getting buried six feet under. She also recognized Athena's parents, whom Hinagiku remembered had had long association with the Ayasakis. There were a few faces that she did not know, but one young man's countenance, in particular, caught her attention. _

_It didn't take long for Hinagiku to realize that the said person was Ayasaki Isuka, the elder brother of Hayate. It wasn't because of his facial features that bore any hint of resemblance to the young blue-haired teenager. In fact, they didn't look that alike. Isuka had messy dark hair and his face was more mature than the fifteen-year-old Hinagiku knew. However, they had the same eyes, the charming, crystal-blue eyes that Hinagiku fell in love with. If eyes were the mirror of one's soul, then at that moment Isuka was probably wandering in purgatory. There was sadness in his eyes, but more important than that there were agony and solace in those orbs. Hinagiku was intrigued by such emotion, and it startled her when Isuka approached her after a while._

_It was a silent conversation. They did not exchange many words after greeting each other. Isuka seemed to know who she was already, and Hinagiku thought it would be best to let him pick up the conversation. Honestly, she didn't really know what to say. She had already spent days crying and now her tear glands had turned dry. Isuka looked tired too, but he flashed a weak smile at the pink-haired girl as he gave her a pat on the head, as if she was a little kid. _

_Hinagiku was about to protest in a polite manner, but what the tall man said later made her change her mind. _

'_Thank you,' he opened his mouth for probably the fourth of fifth time after coming to her side, 'for being with my little brother.' He ruffled her hair playfully before retreating, leaving Hinagiku standing there, staring at the place where Hayate was now rested, and she felt like crying again._

_(End of flashback)_

The sixteen-year-old girl slowly placed the bouquet of chrysanthemum she was carrying in front of the tombstone, and kneeled on the ground to get a better look of his face again. Sometimes she wondered if it would be a good thing for him to preserve his youth like that. After all, despite knowing he would soon be gone from the world, he still tried to make his life meaningful, instead of moaning about the unfairness of life. No, he just accepted his fate and carried on, as if the illness was not worth paying attention to.

'…_Hayate-kun, however, is not stupid, and he has always behaved well so as not to disappoint his parents' names. Like his father, he becomes fond of the violin, and, heck, he may be as talented as his father was. You don't come across a prodigy like that very often.'_

If she were to die in the short future, she wondered if she would even have the strength to ignite her life until the very last second that she breathed. She knew she wasn't that strong. She did not have the determination to stand still until the very end. It shouldn't be the case that a sixteen-year-old had to think about life and death in such way.

But then, death was right in front of her, and she realized how helpless she was in the face of the end.

She looked at the picture of Hayate again, admiring the ever-young features of his face and the tiny, genuine smile that he managed to squeeze out. She slowly put down the bouquet of chrysanthemum she was carrying and placed it neatly in front of the tombstone. Taking out her white handkerchief, she softly wiped away the dirt on the picture and cleaned the words engraved on it.

_A-ya-sa-ki Ha-ya-te_. She carefully spelt out each syllables as her hand moved towards them, cautiously rubbing the words to ensure not a single strain of dust remained. _Beloved son and brother._ Her golden orbs flickered every time she raised her head to look at his countenance.

_As their eyes met, Hinagiku got to observe his features more carefully. He did have a girlish face. His mid-length light-blue hair was just appropriate to give a clean appearance. His tall figure gave off a sense of charisma that any girl would easily fall for. And his eyes that shared the same colour as his hair, sparkled even without the portraying sunlight._

She put away her handkerchief once she was done with cleaning, and then she knelled in front of the tombstone, and spent a good fifteen minutes just staring at his face. She seemed to always get lost in his eyes, which portrayed so much hope and light that at times frightened her. She didn't even know if which was scarier for her: him facing death with a straight face and a smile, or her facing his death with dry tears and a frown.

But then, he was gone, and that fact remained. The pink-haired girl recalled the moment she realized that, when she visited him on her birthday. It was the disorder of the CDs on the floor that first told her something was wrong, and the clean white sheet of the hospital bed only served to prove her theory. It wasn't a shocking revelation, for she knew that day would come sooner or later. In fact, she was glad to hear from the nurses and doctors that he did not suffer much when that happened.

'You dummy,' Hinagiku whispered as she pulled her knees closer to her chest. 'Everyone was so worried about you, yet you still look so happy here.' A barely noticeable smile surfaced on her face, and she reached out her hand to touch the tombstone, caressing his picture and touching his name. On the bottom of his certified date, Isuka had requested the workers to engrave another word there. Usually it would be deemed improper, but he had insisted rather fiercely on that matter, so the workers reluctantly agreed to do so.

_Abwesenheit. _

The Absence.

Hinagiku smiled fondly at that, recalling Athena's impatient snort at Isuka's clever play of words and Nishizawa's startled expression of realization when she noticed the word there. Indeed, probably only a handful of people would understand what that really meant, but Hinagiku knew that was for the best. It sounded like a little secret shared among the few of them, who understood the real meaning of the word.

Slowly, she took out a CD player from her bag and placed it on the ground. Carefully inserting a CD into the device, she plugged in her earphones and closed her eyes when the first heavy but gentle chord of Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor reached her ears.

For hours she just sat there, listening to the music that echoed in her mind as she looked at her surroundings. The atmosphere was pleasant enough for her to stay, as she wrapped her arms around her knees, bringing them closer to her body. The tender wind tangled with her long, pink hair occasionally. Some falling leaves twirled in midair and slowly dropped by her side, longing to be part of the audience to the music she was listening to. The grasses around her moved rhythmically, as Hinagiku stirred her hands on the green herbage, playfully touching their tips and caressing their bodies.

As the last series of notes reached the final progression and arrived at a diminuendo, the three piano chords jumped and majestically brought the movement to an end. Hinagiku could see Hayate in front of her, leaving the piano bench and bowing to the applause of the atmospheric nature, having a small ad warm smile on his neat, tidy face, his crystal blue eyes reflecting his sentiment.

And Hinagiku could only smile as their eyes met.

_When their vision crossed, she confirmed her suspicion._

The wind continued to blow as Hinagiku remained on her spot, her smile never leaving her face. She raised her head to the sky, watching the sun gradually set on the horizon. Spring was coming.

* * *

_The End_

* * *

Minor notes:

The phrase "_an auspicious and a dropping eye_" was written by the great William Shakespeare in _Hamlet_. I just love this expression so much that I feel the urge to let everyone know about it.

_Abwesenheit _means 'the Absence'. In Beethoven's _Les Adieux_, briefly mentioned at the end of last chapter, it refers to the 2nd movement_, L'Absence_, of the piano sonata. The 3rd movement, _Le Retour_, means 'the Return', and this chapter's title _Vivacissimamente_ is also the 3rd movement's assigned tempo. I'm kind of toying with the whole _Les Adieux_ here by mentioning the 1st movement, _Les Adieux _(The Farewell), on last chapter, then adding elements of _L'Absence_ and _Le Retour_ in this last chapter, echoing the three parts of Beethoven's masterpiece (Farewell – Absence – Return). It really ends in an uplifting tone, as after the painful farewell and the silent absence, there comes the joyful return/reunion.

* * *

I'd be lying if I say I intended to spend three years writing this story.

I guess it's just a bad habit of mine, of having an idea of a story then quickly uploading the first chapter, then just expecting I will somehow be able to finish the whole story shortly. Due to this bad practice, I have already left some other stories unfinished since I've lost interest in writing them after a while. Bleh.

However, this fic is different. Despite losing some interest in the manga series (although Suirenji Ruka is an interesting and lovable character that I absolutely love!) I still desperately _want_ to finish this story. If I have to say, I really like the first-half of the story (chapter one to four) since they totally give off the feeling of what I want to convey, that feeling of sincerity and tranquillity. I spent a lot of time choosing the words carefully when writing those four chapters, and I am very satisfied with the outcome. To be frank, I won't say I particularly like the second-half (last three chapters) of the story that much, _as compared to the first-half_, since there was a time gap between me writing the first-half and the second-half. By that time, I have already lost a portion of interest in the story/manga, and that makes it hard for me to continue with it. I've also struggled with the ending, as I was not satisfied with a number of endings I've written. This chapter you're reading is the final outcome after at least three attempts to write a good ending (and I hope this is a good one).

Some of you may wonder if I meant for Hayate to die from the beginning. The answer is 'yes'. I planned for his death at the end since I first started writing this fic. I kind of intentionally omitted the details about his illness, partly due to my limited knowledge in medicine and mainly because I want to focus on _the atmosphere, the mood _of the story. I want to write a 'serious' fic that is more like an art film, where movements are rather slow and conversations are brief, as demonstrated in the first-half. I want the characters to speak as seldom as possible, since I want _the atmosphere_ to tell the story. I can't say I did that very well on the second-half, but since I like this story so much I would much rather finish it and maybe edit it later, than leaving it here with an 'incomplete' status.

Furthermore, a theme of this story is about recognition. Hinagiku initially thought love was something artificial, but the introduction of Hayate into her life changed that. The name of the café, _'Speranza',_ means _'hope'_ in Italian. I started writing this fic when I began to learn Italian in college (and hence the title, _La musica della notte_, literally _'Music of the Night'_), and I played with what I learned. It's '_music of the night'_ because the key scene of the fic lies in chapter two, when Hinagiku realized that she had fallen for Hayate. That was the very first thought I had when developing the plot of this story, and then I had the violin-playing scene in chapter one, the dance scene in chapter four, and the image of Hayate's empty hospital room of chapter six. These four scenes construct the whole idea of this story.

I'll admit I'm showing off a bit by adopting different Italian names and also musical terms for chapter titles, but I do not pick them randomly. When I was writing each chapter I have a particular classical piece in mind, and I try to write the chapter based on how I feel when listening to that music. You can think of this as a song-fic series, only that I didn't use any pop song but classical music.

I am really glad that I finally managed to complete this story, despite taking three years to do so. Thank you all for the kind reviews, favourite, alerts, pm, and encouragement. It's really nice to know that many of you like this story and my writing style. Now that this is done, I'll continue to work on my latest addiction, the _Digimon_ fandom. During the past Christmas holiday, as the Mayan apocalypse failed to materialize, I somehow picked up on the show that I really loved as a child. I've written two one-shots and am in the process of finishing a five-chapter story in that fandom, also starting on a new multi-chapter story as well. I think I'll focus on writing stories in that fandom for now, so that means chance is likely that I won't write another _Hayate no Gotoku_ fic. With this fic, I bid farewell to this fandom. If you like this story, I hope you'll keep an eye on my other stories as well.

As always, reviews are much appreciated. I'd really like to know what you, my dear readers, especially those who have been following this story, think about this chapter and this story overall. Please let me know what you think. With that said, _arrivederci_.


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